Fresh perspectives are the key to developing an effective debt collection strategy. The industry faces an ever-changing strategic landscape, with changing policies and regulations emerging from all sides. But one truth remains: when the customer is empowered, through simple, instant and secure communications, which are customized to their financial and personal situation, the debt collection process becomes seamless and recovery rates are improved.  So how can you empower customers during the debt collection process?

Empowerment Through Communication

Collectors have found that customers gain a sense of empowerment when they can choose the contact channel through which they’re approached about delinquent debt. If they can take charge of their personal delinquency solution, and the timing and pace of repayments, they’re more likely to give you the money you’re owed. Gone are the days of call centres. Formerly a predominant feature of the debt collection process, they have been repurposed and refocused to digital communications. Emails, text messaging, WhatsApp and Chat are some of the range of new digital correspondence which are employed through an omni-channel approach. The best debt collection software recognises that customers do not respond well to telephone calls, which they’re likely to screen, and that by engaging them through channels they’re familiar with, a positive response is much more likely.

Empowerment Through Customer Experience

Another method by which to empower customers and thereby yield performance improvements is through the customer experience emphasis of your debt collection efforts. When recovering debt from an individual, many companies fail to recognize the importance of maintaining a strong customer experience. And it’s easy to understand why. You’re owed money, the customer is delinquent, so they must not be enjoying a good customer experience.  But if you can focus on providing the customer with the means and services for them to repay their debts, it’s likely to evolve into a positive relationship for both parties. In a world tied down by compliance, it’s easy to take a one-size-fits-all approach to your debt collection communications. But this is a mistake and it’s inefficient. You shouldn’t be exiling customers, you should be remaining friendly to keep customers loyal for the long term. The best debt collection software delivers highly personalized, intuitive and seamless customer interactions, which improve loyalty and have a direct impact on your credit control.

Empowerment Through Listening

Listening to customers concerns is incredibly important when it comes to debt recovery. Endeavour to discover why they haven’t made a payment. Have they forgotten? Or are they experiencing financial difficulty? Listening and having this information means you can develop an individualised customer experience and a more advanced, successful debt collection process. Today AI and machine learning capabilities within debt collection software can do a lot of this work on your behalf. Artificial Intelligence works to understand, predict and empower customers to repay their debt. Predictive models and scoring algorithms work on your behalf, predicting the likelihood a debtor is going to pay.

Get in touch to learn how LATERAL can help you empower your customers during the debt collections process, thereby yielding vast performance improvements for your business.